Climate change poses one of the most pressing risks to our society and the global economy, with profound and wide-ranging consequences. Research has shown that rising temperatures and tropical cyclones reduce the global economic growth rate by approximately 0.25 and 1.3 percentage points per year (Burke, Hsiang, and Miguel, 2015; Carleton and Hsiang, 2016). Despite… Read More »
In the last few years, there has been an increase in the proportion of socially and environmentally responsible shareholders. These shareholders are not solely concerned with the profits generated by a firm. Instead, they also care about its social and environmental impact. Some empirical studies have already established that this has implications for firms’ stock… Read More »
In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, new technologies have become essential. The digital revolution, built on data-driven innovations, has permanently shifted how businesses collect, analyze, and utilize information. This transformation comes with significant challenges. As companies navigate the digital landscape, they must address cybersecurity, privacy, and ethical considerations alongside legal requirements. In our recent paper,… Read More »
Securities law has long regulated speech with little (if any) First Amendment controversy. Yet the contemporary antiregulatory turn in the Supreme Court’s Free Speech Clause doctrine has inspired increasingly successful efforts to resist regulation in various settings—settings that now include securities law. Among other things, the Court now scrutinizes the government’s compelled informational disclosures with… Read More »
Over the past few decades, the ownership structure of American firms has undergone a significant transformation. Gone are the days of dispersed ownership, where most firms were owned by thousands of individuals directly investing their savings in the stock exchange. Instead, we now have a complex web of institutional investors and powerful individual or family… Read More »
Modern capital markets facilitate the separation of ownership and control. This allows shareholders to diversify their portfolios and firms to undertake value-generating projects regardless of their level of idiosyncratic risk. However, the universal push for diversification often means that shareholders do not bear sufficient risk to incentivize them to monitor the firms in their portfolios.… Read More »
On September 25, 2021, the Caremark decision turned 25 years old. Caremark is a landmark decision from the Chancery Court of Delaware which transformed the duty of loyalty by placing within it the new duty of oversight, making it more than merely an elevated level of attention to business as the duties of care and… Read More »
Legal systems around the world apply various strategies to mitigate agency costs between controlling and minority shareholders. In my recent paper, I provide a systematic review of the transnational law on controlling shareholder’s loyalty and care obligations by exploring the cultural, historical, and socio-economic backgrounds embodied in different doctrinal choices. A. Doctrinal Strategies for Regulating Controlling… Read More »
Growth in corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices is an undeniable fact of modern business. 90% of S&P 500 firms published a corporate sustainability report in 2020, up from merely 20% in 2011. As more and more firms adopt CSR practices, a key question emerges: how do such activities impact investor perceptions of firms? Proponents of… Read More »
